Thursday, 1 December 2016

Mt. Everest - Courageous men and their world records

Among the outdoor adventure sports, mountain climbing is the most exciting, but grueling one. To get to the top of the peak, say Everest or Annapurna or any other peak above 20,000 feet, one has to toil and cross tough terrains and steep cliffs. In the case of mount Everest, the climber needs exemplary mental strength and good concentration, apart from good health. Listed below are amazing men who not only reached Mt. Everest in style, taking all the risks under the sun, but also set world records, thus each one of them made history and has found a permanent niche in the history of Mt. Everest expedition. The unique aspect of Everest records is the holders include young people in teens as well as men above 70 years old, and for them sky is the limit.

Apa (born
Lhakpa Tenzing) Sherpa (20 January 1960): A Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer holds jointly with Phurba Tashi, the record for reaching the summit of Mount Everest more times than any
other person. Apa made his
21st Mount Everest summit on 11 May 2011 as a member of the Eco Everest Expedition. His achievement of 21 ascents of MountEverestas of May2011shows his rare talents in mountain climbing in the most most difficult mountainous terrain in the world. and his record is not yet broken. Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa, born in Thame, a village in the Everest region of Nepal, began his climbing career in 1985, and in 1990 got a chance to climb Everest. Apa first reached the summit of Mount Everest on his fourth attempt, on May 10, 1990, with a New Zealand team led by climber Rob Hall along with Peter Hillary, son of legendary Edmund Hillary. He successfully led the first expedition on April 2012 to complete the Great Himalaya Trail, an adventure trip, covering 1,700-kilometre (1,050-mile) trek spanning the entire length of the Nepalese Himalayas.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apa_Sherpa

Dave
Hahn (November 3, 1961, Okinawa, Japan): A professional American mountain
guide, ski patroller, journalist and lecturer in May 2013, he made history by reaching
the summit of Mount Everest for the 15th time - the most for a
non-Sherpa climber, according to Outside Magazine contributor and
climber Alan Arnette. He also reached 35 summits of Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain, 21 times the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest
peak over the course of 30 expeditions. Graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the State University of New York
at Buffalo in 1984, Hahn's name is inducted into the university's Sports Hall of Fame.In 1999, Hahn was a key
member of the team that discovered the remains of George Mallory at
27,000 feet (8,200 m) on Mount Everest's North Face. Mallory died
on the mountain in 1924, along with fellow climber Andrew Irvine, but it
has never been determined whether or not he first reached the top

Nawang Gombu ( born 1935-April 24, 2011): A Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer, Gombu was
born in Khumbu, Nepal, and his uncle is
Tenzing Norgay, who along with Hillary climbed Everest for the first time in 1953. He was not only the youngest Sherpa to reach 26,000 ft. in 1964,
but also became the first Indian and the third man in the world to summit
Nanda Devi (24,645 ft). In 1965, he created world record then by becoming the first man in the world to
have climbed Everest twice - with the Indian
Expedition and American, a record that would remain unbroken for
almost 20 years.

When he was a boy Gombu was sent to Tibet to become a monk at Rongbuk Monastery, but it did not happen. He traveled extensively and several times climbed Mt. Rainier in Washington state, USA. He was an advisor at the Himalayan
Mountaineering Institute and lived in in Darjeeling, West Bengal.

Confirmed by Everest historian
Elizabeth Hawley and Everest
Summiteers' Association, Kazi holds the current speed climbing record on Mount
Everest for the South Col Route, from base camp to the summit, without
oxygen from base camp to the summit.

Kazi has the rare distinction of being the first man to have made the fastest ascent on Everest. He set the
record on the South Col Route, without supplemental oxygen,
without steroid drug assistance (Dexamethasone), and without Sherpa
assistance or guide assistance. In 1998, he took 20 hours 24
minutes, from the south base camp to the summit. Earlier record was held by Marc Batard in 1988 by 22 hours and 29
minutes.

Ang
Rita aka Angrita Sherpa (Nepali), born in 1948 in small village called Yillajung in eastern Nepal is a remarkable mountain climber who was on the roof of the world - Mount Everest ten times without the use of supplemental
(bottled) oxygen, and is thus known as "The Snow Leopard". He took Southeast Ridge route eight times. When he climbed Everest for the 6th time in 1990, setting the world record for the most
number of successful ascents, eventually reaching 10 on May 23, 1996. His last summit followed 12 days after the second deadliest accident in the history of Everest when eight people were caught in a blizzard and died on Mount Everest during attempts to ascend to or descend from the summit. That particular season the death toll was 12 people.

Climbing the tallest peak in the world - mount Everest is a Herculean task for able bodied men with lots of mountaineering experience. If a man does summit the peak with no eye sight, barring all the dangers on the way, is something great, something impossible to imagine.

Erik Weihenmayer, despite his blindness, must be a man of steel and fortitude, taking inspiration from Helen Keller. He unfortunately lost his sight at the age of 13. Undeterred, he kept his life going, surmounting the barriers on the way. That fighting spirit ultimately took him to the roof of the world Mount Everest in 2001, being the first blind
climber to achieve this great triumph.Besides in 2001, he scaled the highest peaks of the seven continents along with the elite group of climbers, thus becoming the only blind person to climb the Seven Summits. In 2014, he also solo kayaked the Grand Canyon, a journey of 277 miles along the Colorado River. His other achievement includes his 50 solo sky dives. Time Magazine honored him with a cover story. He also completed the Seven Summits in September 2002,

Earlier his exceptional climbs included the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite in 1996, and Losar, a 2700-foot tough vertical ice face in the Himalayas which he ascended in two days and 3 hours, in 2008.US President George W Bush congratulated him on his achievement.

Scott and Haston reached
the top of Everest taking a new route for the first time on the south -west face of the mountain led by Bonington. In September 1975, they became the first pair from Britain ever to reach the summit. It is worth mentioning here that five previous expeditions had failed to reach the summit on the same route.

Dougal Haston (19 April 1940 -17 January 1977) born in Currie, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.was a Scottish mountaineer, well-known for his adventures in the British Isles, Alps, and the Himalayas. He died in an avalanche while skiing above Leysin, Switzerland. Earlier, in 1970,
he and Don Whillans were the first to climb the south face of Annapurna
on an expedition led by Chris Bonington, and in 1975.Douglas Keith Scott CBE, educated at Cottesmore School in Lenton, Nottingham (born 29 May 1941), is an English mountaineer. In his early age, he showed interest in outdoor activities, in particular, mountain climbing. He is popular for his trail blazing efforts to establish a new route to Mt. Everest. He along with Dougal Haston made the first ever ascent of the south-west face choosing a new route to Mount Everest on 24 September 1975. Scott and Dougal Haston were the first Britons to climb Everest during this expedition (discounting Mallory and Irvine). He and his partner received prestigious mountaineering awards.

During the last phase of ascent on Everest, the air is very thin so, the available oxygen is not good enough for the climbers who pant a lot while ascending. With inadequate oxygen at very high elevation on the snow capped peak, one may experience dizziness and disorientation. It requires lots of guts and determination to summit the peak without supplemental oxygen. Reinhold Messnerand Austrian companion Peter Habeler were the first men to successfully reach the summit without supplemental oxygen. On 8 May 1978, Reinhold Messner stood with Peter Habeler on the summit of Mount Everest, of course, without oxygen cylinder.

On 20 August 1980, Messner also made the first solo ascent without oxygen. Prior to May 1978, this ascent was disputed whether this was possible at all. For this solo climb, he chose the northeast ridge to the summit, where he crossed above the North Col in the North Face to the Norton Couloir. Thus, he became the first man to climb through this steep gorge to the summit

Reinhold Messner in June 2002. en.wikipedia.org

His other achievements: In May and June 1970, Reinhold Messner was a member of of an Douth Face expedition to the Nanga Parbat led by Karl Herrligkoffer, the objective being to climb the as yet un-climbed Rupal Face, the highest rock and ice face in the world. On 9 August 1978 Messner successfully made a solo trip to the summit of Nanga Parbat again via the Diamir, after three unsuccessful attempts.

Everest Tibetan plateau en.wikipedia.org/

Pemba
Dorje Sherpa(Nepal):

(fastest ascent from Base Camp with bottled oxygen)Pemba
Dorje Sherpa from beding, Rolwaling Valley, Dolkha, Nepal made a record
by making the fastest ever ascent of Mount Everest on 21 May 2004,
taking
eight hours and ten minutes; ascent from Everest South Base Camp with supplemental oxygen . The record was confirmed by Nepal's tourism
ministry.

His early record for the fastest summit of 12 hours and 45
minutes in 2003, was broken by Lakpa Gelu Sherpa three days
later who set a new record of 10 hours 56 minutes. Pemba Dorje disputed
the claim of Lakpa Gelu, but the Nepalese government ruled it was
valid.

Jordan
Romero, 13, from the ski town of Big Bear, California, near the San
Bernardino Mountains, climbed Everest (29,028 feet / 8,847 meters) and
holds a new world record for the Youngest to climb Mount Everest ( May 23, 2010).
The extreme weather conditions on the high mountains claimed the lives
of 179 climbers over the years. Romero, with help from his father, step
mother and three Sherpas achieved this triumph. Jordan
Romero reached the Everest summit with a group of mountaineers,
including a Nepalese Sherpa named Apa who himself broke his own world record by
climbing Everest for a 20th time (then).Previous record
for the youngest to summit Everest was held by Ming Kipa of Nepal, who
was 15 then in 2003. Jordan Romero had to climb from the Chinese side
of the mountain after Nepal denied him permission on age grounds,
according to nepalese.com.

Earlier just nine years of age, Romero climbed the highest peaks on six of the seven continents, including Mount Kilimanjaro (19,341 feet / 5,895 meters) in Tanzania.

Yuichiro
Miura (born October 12, 1932) a Japanese Alpinist in 2003, at age 70,
became the oldest person to scale Mount Everest. This record had since
been broken. However, on May
26, 2008, Miura once again successfully reached the summit of Mt.
Everest at the age of 75. In spite of his age, with more vigor on May
23, 2013 Miura successfully stood atop Everest and again became the
oldest
person to climb to the summit at the age of 80. As he had difficulty in
making the descent after reaching the top, he was airlifted to
base camp from 6500 meters in elevation. This achievement is listed
in the Guinness Book of Records.

In
addition to this feat he was the first person to ski on Mount Everest
on May 6, 1970 and in 1975 descended nearly 4,200 vertical feet from
the South Col (elevation over
8,000 m (26,000 ft)). This demanding, risky feat was documented in 1975,
in the film The
Man Who Skied Down Everest. The film won the Academy Award for best
documentary, the first sports film to get the honor.

Keizo
Miura, took keen interest in mountain climbing and skiing in this school days. en.wikipedia.org/Yuichiro
Miura

Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE (born 7 March 1944), son of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, is
an English explorer and writer. He holds numerous records to his
credit. Fiennes was born in Windsor, Berkshire on 7 March 1944 and
inherited his father's baronetcy, becoming the 3rd Baronet of Banbury,
at his birth. Fiennes is a third cousin of Mark Fiennes, whose children
include actors Joseph and Ralph Fiennes, and is a distant cousin to the
British Royal Family.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranulph_Fiennes

Sherman Bull, MD (USA):(Oldest American to reach Mt. Everest)

Sherman Bull, the oldest person to reach Mt.
Everest at age 64 in 2001 newcanaannewsonline.com

Sherman Bull -- the oldest American to have reached the summit of Mt. Everest at age 64 in 2001after 5 failed attempt. His
2001 victory in reaching the top of Mt. Everest was his fifth attempt.
On his third try, he slipped and fell 200 meters, landing in a crevasse
in the dark of the night, the traditional time for climbing up the
mountain in aiming to reach the summit by dawn. He was saved by other
climbers after spotting his head lamp.

Min
Bahadur Sherchan, (20 June 1931) had conquered Mt Everest on May 25,
2008 last year when he was just a few days away from celebrating his
77th birthday (76 years 340 days) the world record for the Oldest Everest climber then. He is an inspiration to young Sherpas and the young people of Nepal.Gerhard Schmatz (W.Germany):

(Oldest German to reach Everest)

Gerhard Schmatz (b 1929) from West Germany was the oldest German - 50 years 118 days old to summit Everest in Octobe

Gerhard Schmatz. hepostmortempost.com

Hannelore
Schmatz, wife of Gerhard Schmatz was also a German mountaineer (born on
February 16, 1940). On October 2, 1979 and unfortunately she became
the first woman, and the first German citizen to die on the upper slopes
of Mount Everest. Her husband, 50-year-old Gerhard Schmatz was the
leader of the expedition, becoming the oldest person to have summited
Mount Everest up to that time. Hannelore was in a different group.
Normally a team will be split into a small group allowing a few to
summit at a time as the rest will remain at base camp. Hannelore
summited that day with Swiss-American Ray Genet and a Sherpa, Sungdare.
Later caught in a blizzard, both Genet and Hannelore died. For the
leader of the team Hannelore's husband, Gerhard it was a nightmarish
experience. http://www.thepostmortempost.com/2015/10/01/hannelore-schmatz/These
people mentioned above achieved success and fame through passion, hard
work, trust and the ability to set aside their failures. These highly
motivated people are a source of inspiration to others.

Peter Edmund Hillary (born 26 December 1954), a New Zealand mountaineer, philanthropist and writer is the son of adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with Nepalese Sherpa mountain climber Tenzing Norgay, completed the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. Peter Hillary, imbibed the adventurous spirits of his father, stood on top of Everest in 1990, thus he and his father were the first father/son duo to achieve the feat. Hillary made two summits of Everest and did not stop at it. He made an 84-day trek across Antarctica to the South Pole, and an expedition guiding astronaut Neil Armstrong to land a small aircraft at the North Pole. Besides, he has climbed many of the world's major peaks, and on 19 June 2008, completed the Seven Summits, reaching the top of the highest mountains on all seven continents, when he summited Denali in Alaska. His amazing achievements prove that he is the worthy son of an an illustrious father Sir Edmund Hillary, whose concern for the welfare of the mountain people - Sherpas is well known.

Lables

About

I am KN.Jayaraman, Retd Geologist, author of this blog. I have a strong passion for Ancient Indian Culture, art, architecture, etc...
I started this blog with a view to covering the above areas and also odd things related to India.
Learn More